Twenty-seven million tonnes! That is how many cotton balls are transported from plantations to factories worldwide every year. A significant proportion of harvested cotton can only be processed thanks to the Swiss company Rieter which develops and delivers cotton processing machinery to factories around the globe. Rieter is an absolute leader in the field. The Company has eighteen factories in ten countries and Rieter’s annual turnover is in the billions of Swiss francs.

Efficient, user-friendly, error-free - the idea was loud and clear. Bearing this in mind, Rieter began searching for a way to digitize their products and optimize their manufacturing processes.

The complex software boosting cotton production

In a nutshell: Rieter needed a software solution that would increase production efficiency, and simplify machine maintenance and monitoring whilst optimizing machinery performance. The company needed it to be complete and complex.

Rieter discovered the solution in us. ARTIN. “What Rieter needed from us was a competent team in IoT, web applications, and communication within a distributed network. Rieter needed reliability, complexity, and quality,” says Jan Najvárek, CEO of ARTIN.

Rieter is a manufacturing company and has limited experience in software development. They had the ideas but needed the know-how. So, we at ARTIN, put together a team of seven experienced experts to do the job we needed them to do: full-cycle software development.

From analyze of business and needs

Initially, we mapped the customer’s needs and specialties in the operation of cotton processing machines. We designed the system based on the information gathered and Rieter’s requirements. Then we started the software development using the latest technologies such as React, SpringBoot, or Java/Kotlin.

Finally, we tested the system. The system met Rieter’s requirements perfectly. We made Rieter’s vision happen and they didn’t need to worry about a thing. They simply outlined their ideas and we delivered the solution in all its glory. From start to finish, from right to left, from the first scratch to the last exclamation mark at the end of the error message.

To successfully release in factories of Rieter's customers

Thanks to our work, the machines can now collect vast amounts of data resulting in increased product efficiency and easier maintenance. The overview of all aspects of the production is also greatly improved as the machine owner now has constant access to the data collected. Along the way, we faced many technical challenges. The largest was in relation to the very principle of cotton processing machinery.

The factories where the machines operate are located mainly in Asia and experience highly unstable conditions. There is commonly no internet connection and widespread power outages that can last several hours. It is for this very reason that the end product had to be error-free otherwise the machines would have to operate with bugs for months before the possibility of an update.

Today, collaboration with the Swiss company continues. We are in constant contact with Rieter, providing support and updates and the team working on the project has grown many times over. “We ensure that everything works as it should and continue to develop the project. We are currently discussing future cooperation for the upcoming years,” concludes Najvárek.